Faith and Self-Control

Faith and Self-Control

I’ve been focusing on self-improvement, particularly health and what we put into our bodies, (which you will know if you’ve been on my Random Thoughts page any time recently.)

Mr. B has been reading about positivity and getting the mind right; He shared a bit from a book by James Allen (who actually retired to my birthplace of Ilfracombe!) with me recently and two things stuck:

He says that if our thoughts and efforts are not aligned with our prayers, then there’s no point asking for stuff…he has a point. God can (and would like to) give us every good and perfect gift, but we can’t expect a house if we don’t want to pay for it…or to have our bodies be healthy if we put stuff in them God never intended for us. Ouch! That’s a wake up call right there. It seems impossible but God doesn’t need our perfection, just our best efforts: As Paul says, we need perseverance.

James Allen went on (in a different excerpt) to reiterate the Bible teaching that we can’t serve 2 masters, but rather than talk about money he talks about self as the opposition to God’s truth: Basically giving in to our desires is self-centred and not God-centred, so we can’t expect to grow if we’re planted in the wrong garden, or trying to fight for both sides in a battle as he puts it. Most of us would not class ourselves as particularly self-centred and when the world talks of desires, it usually means lust and addiction. But it’s more subtle than that: Eating or drinking excessively can harm me and God knows that. Please hear me clearly; God is not going to cast me out for eating one chocolate bar, it’s not a salvation thing, it’s just that I could be in better shape for the jobs and blessings he has for me.

I was blown away by this. Allen has a way of describing Biblical principles so you see them in a whole new light! I have work to do, but am heading towards where God wants me to be.

I hope you’re inspired, as I was, to deal with whatever holds you back.